Tag Archives: Jean

Yesterday I spent some time with my friends Jean and Kenny at their house. It was a nice visit and I didn’t stay too late. I got home around 9:20 PM. Jean and I spent a good bit of time talking about our pasts too and it was quite enjoyable traversing our memory lanes.

For the last few weeks I’d been contemplating on picking up a new pair of headphones. I need something to help block the noise in the office and since I was already familiar with the Bose QuietComfort technology from using my Uncle’s set of Q3’s,

Work lately has been taking up a good bit of my time. I don’t mind as I feel like I’m doing some important stuff. For the last couple of weeks I have been working on our “Price Exceptions” system. This Lotus Notes based system is used for requesting discounts for our stuff. The entire workflow has been changed and I’ve been working on getting that aspect done. I was really close to what I was told then had a meeting with the Director of Sales (just to ask a couple of questions) and he threw another couple of things in there. I now have another couple of days work to do before I can get ready for the testing phase. I’m enjoying the project, but I’m about over it!

Because my sleeping schedule has been off (getting up at 2:30 – 3:30 AM everyday) allowed me to go into the office to work between 5:45 and 6:30 AM for a while. I’d done that so much that I decided to leave a 2PM on Friday and take some time to myself. (As I write this I have my work computer doing stuff and I’ll put in a few hours on a couple of items on this Sunday morning).

Coincidentally, we’re using the same theme that I’ve switched to for this blog. Easel is the primary theme and it supports child themes so I’ve created one specifically for our company web site. That’s another slow moving project because of not having the resources to get things done. I’m going to try to spend a couple of hours a day working on it this week.

Jean and Kenny came down on Saturday. We have a nice visit and went out to eat in Laurel (Pasta Nostra). It was very nice. After eating, we went over to the Best Buy and Trader Joe’s store. We ended up back at my place where we watched a DVD. They left after the movie was over. It was a very nice visit.

My Friends Jean and Kenny came down yesterday. The were closer than usual because they attended the annual Sheep and Wool Festival about 35 minutes away. We hung out here for a while before heading out to eat and find some patio furniture for my patio. We ate a local Chinese restaurant called The Hunan Manor. I’ve been there several times and the food’s been good.

For my patio, I really just want a couple of benches and maybe a table, but most of the things I saw was either too expensive (over $1200 for a great wood bench) or didn’t really provide enough seating. I’m thinking of just getting a few resin chairs from BJ’s and maybe find a small table that fits out there.

Yesterday, Kenny and I went over to Home Depot and I purchased all new appliances. The only thing I didn’t get was a new microwave and the main reason I didn’t do that was that I need to make sure that I have the electrical connection above the stove.

My kitchen theme is black and white so I went with a black refrigerator, black dish washer and black range.

Looking at the selection of fridges, I found one that was in my budgeted amount, but it didn’t have some of the features that I really wanted. There was another one but it was a few hundred dollars more than what I wanted so I waited. I told the sales guy that I would come back after selecting my other appliances. With the sales and the costs of the other things, I selected the Maytag Ice-2-O (MFI2568AEB). It has quite a few nice features and should just fit into the space.

The range is also a Maytag (MERH752BAB) and is nothing too fancy. Its a smooth top cooking surface. I had bought one for my house before and I have been wanting another one since I moved. Of course it has self-cleaning, timers and even a Sabbath setting so the oven stays warm after the normal auto-shutoff time has elapsed. Not sure if I’ll need that setting.

When we were entering the order into the system yesterday, we skipped this item and I had to go back to the store today to add it. We couldn’t add it to the existing order without cancelling everything and re-entering it. Since it didn’t affect the bottom line, I elected to just place another order for it.

The dishwasher is a Maytag (MDBH945AWB), surprised? Because this is installed and not a stand-alone type appliance, there was no sales tax on it. Cool. I wonder if I can deduct it from next years taxes as a home improvement.

Anyway, its also nothing too fancy. Its going to be doing the dishes once or twice a week (or daily if I have guests) and that’s enough for me.

I also picked up a Washer & Dryer set, also Maytag brand (MFW9600SQ/MED9600SQ). The images on the left will give you an idea of the look, but its showing the units on top of pedestals. I didn’t get the pedestals so the units will sit a little lower than they would otherwise. These I got in white because they’re going to be in the laundry closet anyway and there’s no need to go with black. The washer is a front loading washer which should save energy and money in the long run and the way BGE has increased the rates in the last year around here, I can use the money saving features! Oh, and these two are stackable if I decide to save some space I can stack the dryer on top of the washer.

Why did I go with Maytag for all these? Well, if I bought 4 appliances I’d get $400.00 back. Since I also bought an Ice-2-O refrigerator I get another $100.00 too so that’s a rebate of $500.00. Delivery & setup is free (after mail-in rebate) and they’ll haul off the old stuff too.

With the holiday sales and the mail-in rebates I’ve saved roughly 25%. Its a little more than what I had budgeted but I think its a good investment. Since I moved a couple of years ago I’d been wanting to invest more in my home furnishings and now I’m almost complete. The only thing I really want to do now is replace the carpeting, but that can wait.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Yesterday I also picked up a new table for the other end of my sofa. Actually I picked it up today from the warehouse in Odenton, but I ordered it yesterday. Its a La-Z-Boy that matches my living room furniture. I have to put it together, but these pieces go together pretty easily.

My friends from Jean and Kenny will be here sometime around 1:00 PM. They’re coming in to spend the day. We’ll go out for a while and maybe do some shopping but I think mostly we’ll watch a movie or something.

I’d planned earlier this past week to spend some time in my office on Friday. That didn’t happen, mostly because the ice baracade behind my car. Its going to be close to 40 and sunny today so I’m hoping it will melt a good bit or at least get slushy enough for me to move it out of the way. The other day it had gone from slushy snowly sleet to solid ice over night and it was all but impossible to move without heavy equipment.